Adult Prisoner Reentry Is Not

Adult Prisoner Reentry

Reentry is not a fad; it is here to stay."(Rhine)

The belief that reentry is "here to stay," Rhine notes, stems from the current national movement in corrections to embrace offender reentry. Efforts to build effective and innovative responses to the reentry of released offenders into society are being launched by government institutes, public policy and community organizations. (Ibid.) A recent study completed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that more than two-thirds of all released offenders were rearrested within three years. In turn, the cycle of crime and imprisonment takes a heavy toll on communities. ("OFFENDER RE-ENTRY...") Not only is the cycle of considered a threat to public safety, it drains resources. "Incarceration costs an average of $22,650 a year per person, with some States spending over $37,000." Challenges presented by reentry, along with concerns regarding ex-offenders returning to their former communities, range from the released individual posing a danger to their former victims to extra expenses related to a crime being committed to the ex-offender not being reestablished and committing another crime. As most offenders eventually return to their home communities, however, counters that contribute to an ex-prisoner becoming a positive part of society need to be assessed and addressed. '"We know from long experience that if they [ex-offenders] can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit crime and return to prison." (Ibid.)

In the past, ex-prisoners were commonly released into their communities with approximately $50 (or less) and (perhaps) a bus ticket. Many ex-offenders today continue to contend with challenges which may include no knowing about job training, treatment options and/or other possible helpful services. The reentry process works best, it has been determined, when it begins with the prisoner when he/she is incarcerated and continues after he/she is released until he/she becomes reestablished in the community and gives back to his/her community in positive ways. (Ibid.) Questions regarding whether or not the ex-offender will "make it" back in his/her community constantly clamor to be answered. Will the individual returning to his/her community be a returning or reformed criminal? What is the best way to deal with offenders who have "paid their debt to society" and are released from back into the community? (Allender)

No one answer, however, "fits all," and just as there are constant questions, there are numerous opinions regarding ex-offenders and whether they can ever be considered an "ex...." Harris, for example, insists career criminals never be released back into the community. "On February 6, 2004, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped, brutally raped and murdered in my hometown of Sarasota, Florida," Harris reports. ("FEDERAL OFFENDER... ") "We must act now to protect our children from the criminal repeat offenders who use society's second chances to commit more acts of violence."

Joseph Smith, the young girl's accused murderer, Harris argues, should have remained in prison as he had numerous 2-second chances, yet failed to commit to changing. Career criminals, like Smith, Harris insists do not belong outside of prison nor do they belong in our communities.

Strom Thurmond, Republican from South Carolina, on the other hand, insists that when prisoners work,.".. our nation's prisons become safer places that can truly be rehabilitative environments." (Thurmond)

The process to acquire job skills and learn how to contribute to society begins inside prison, before a person reenters society.

Second Chance Act

Currently, within three years of their release, two out of every three men and women released from prison will likely be rearrested for a felony or misdemeanor. (Schultz)

The Second Chance Act, designed to counter this current statistic and alleviate overcrowding in their jails and prisons by reducing recidivism through an improved reentry process, primarily focuses.".. On job training, housing, and mental health and substance abuse treatment."(Ibid.) "The Second Chance Act is federal legislation with bipartisan support that aims to reduce recidivism and help states and communities to better address the growing population of prisoners returning to communities." ("Second Chance....) This act, which would reauthorize the Re-Entry Demonstration project, also project more focus on:

Jobs

Housing substance abuse treatment / mental health

Children and families. (Ibid.)

Every year, approximately 650,000 individuals are released from U.S. prisons. More than seven million people are released from jails each year. More than 10% of those individuals leaving jails or prisons are homeless in the months before their incarceration. Prior to and individual's incarceration, as well as, after their release from jail or prison, homelessness is linked with an increased risk of return to prison. Consequently, accessing affordable housing is one primary need for those reentering society. (Ibid.)

This bill would reauthorize and revise an existing program within the Department of Justice, providing money to states for reentry programs, create a federal interagency task force to study and coordinate policy, commission a number of research projects including a study of barriers in federal policy to successful reentry, and authorize grants from the Justice Department directly to nonprofits for reentry program. (Ibid)

Latest News: Efforts to pass the Second Chance Act before the Congressional recess were unsuccessful. However, the cosponsors in the Senate and House of Representatives have agreed on the bill's language and will try to pass the bill during the lame-duck session, which will begin shortly after the November election. (Ibid)

The Second Chance Act of 2005 recognizes the significance of implementing a holistic approach with offenders returning to the community. Components include: "a continuum of services, programming, support and offender accountability that extends from the time of sentencing well beyond release from prison to any period of supervision that may follow." (Rhine) This act also stresses these plans and preparations are to be developed along with/side community members and groups; faith-based groups, service providers, citizens, victims; previously incarcerated individuals. The Second Chance Act of 2005 recognizes the value of engaging families in reentry and encourages the expansion of family-based treatment centers to provide comprehensive treatment services for a former inmate's family as a unit. "Family case management that starts inside and continues following an offender's release serves to reinforce successful reentry transitions." (Ibid)

Reentry is not only returning offenders home and to the community as tax-paying, productive citizens, it's about public safety as well.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recently completed a study noting the prison population rate has reportedly been stabilized by the recent rapid growth in state and local offender reentry. From 1990 to 2000, the percentage of individuals identified as state parole discharges successfully completing their supervision after reentry totaled 41%, while 42% returned to prison or jail (9% absconded). First releases are deemed to be more likely to succeed on parole than individuals who are re-released, being released after serving time for parole violation, or new offense or other conditional release while under supervision. During Tramel's review of: When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry, by Joan Petersilia, he quotes former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who once proposed that "prisons should be a 'tour through the circles of hell:' where inmates should learn only 'the joys of busting rocks.'" Tramel, notes, however, Petersilia's tone to be much more empathetic, as she presents a demographic profile of the 600,000 inmates paroled from U.S. prisons each year. These individuals are reported to be "largely uneducated, unskilled, and usually without solid family supports -- and now they have the added stigma of a prison record and the distrust and fear that it inevitably elicits." (Ibid.) Reynolds, who also reviewed Petersilia's book states that Petersillia notes that too frequently, former inmates return to their community the same way they left it:.".. uneducated and unskilled with serious physical, psychological, emotional and social problems."